602 Showreel Refinement (Part 1)

In a one-to-one session I spoke to Rob, one of our lecturers, about my fears regarding 602 and how I feel I'm not prepared for the industry. This was mainly sparked from my research into studios near me and how they were all after 3D animators with experience in Maya, while I specialise in 2D.

This got us talking about my showreel. I explained how challenging my second year was, as my mental health was rapidly declining and I was ready to drop out at any given moment. I also felt my work suffered as a result. Therefore, my showreel is currently lacking in decent material.

Rob then listed some requirements for what he believes makes a polished showreel.

1) Acting - A clip that demonstrates my understanding of body language, facial expressions, and the tone of a scene.

2) Lip Sync - This is self explanatory, he's after a decent lip sync. I did animate one in my second year however I'm not very proud of it. 

3) Dialogue - See points 1 and 2.

4) Action Sequence - A clip that showcases my understanding of weight, pacing and movement.

5) A Dance - He also suggested including a dance.

I also need to make sure I'm demonstrating the main principles of animation in each shot. So, I decided to work on some short clips alongside my main animation module so that I'm meeting all of these requirements. I asked Rob if all the shots needed to include OCs or, whether we could adapt characters from pre-existing media. He said both were fine for a showreel.

So first of all, I decided to animate one of the opening sequences from Chuck. I roughed out a very sketchy storyboard of the angles I was after however considering the time I have, and how swamped I am due to 603, I instead decided to only focus on one shot from this opening.

Link to Chuck Run Cycle (Key Frames Only)

As mentioned earlier, I want to include as many of the 12 principles of animation as I can, as while looking into jobs, having an understanding of these principles was a common requirement. So in this run cycle, I've included follow through and overlapping action, as his run is very bouncy.

Link to Chuck Run Cycle (Character Animation Only)

I adjusted the timing slightly, added inbetweens to make the cycle smoother, and finally added colour. I then messaged one of my classmates, Joseph, who has an interest in animated backgrounds, and asked him whether he would be interested in collaborating on this shot.

This will be an ongoing exercise.